Sweatshirt – Sew Dainty

Posted on 16/04/2021 by sewdainty — Leave a comment

The Tula/Hemlock combo – a lounge set of dreams.

Despite the arrival of Spring, it’s still Baltic here in the UK, so I am certainly not ready to give up cosy loungewear yet.

What I did want however was to make a more stylish set than what I currently reach for when it’s the end of the day and I just want to throw on the comfies. You don’t even want to know what my current loungewear looks like – I’ll give you an idea – it’s oversized fleecy pyjamas that are several years old and several sizes too big for me too. Not a great look but I must admit that when I throw those ridiculous pyjamas on, wash my face and pop on some face oil, it’s like magic. Aaaand breathe….

Instagram has fed me images of pastel coloured cashmere loungewear sets for far too long, and now was the time to do something about it. Whilst cashmere is not in my budget, I took a chance on this marl pink melange from eBay, and I was not disappointed. I like the subtle dark shade of pink, it washes beautifully and was easy to sew with.

The trouser pattern that I picked is The Tula Pants from Papercut Patterns. This is a new release from Papercut and as soon as I saw it I jumped right on it – which is unusual for me as I almost always wait for a sale to come around before I purchase any pattern! For some time I had been searching for the discontinued Amina Pants from Papercut as I had seen so many lovely versions, however this pattern seems to be their replacement, so it’s all ended well.

The great thing about this pattern is that you can make it in either woven or knit fabric, there is a wide or tapered leg choice, and there are shorts too!

Elasticated waists all round – hooray! Pockets, yes please! and a faux fly and ankle cuffs if you like too, yee ha!

This pattern is available in a size range of 1-8 (UK 6-20). My measurements at the moment are 34-29-38, and I made a straight size 4 (UK 12).

I thought that they would be a super quick pattern to sew, but actually there is more to them than I had considered. The pockets and faux fly are not quick (but not difficult either). The pocket construction is enjoyable and I like how it looks. I chose to stitch a couple of rows through the waistband elastic (optional) as this keeps it neat and in place and I liked the buttonholes that are sewn into the waistband so that you can quickly slip through a length of cord/fabric to create a faux drawstring tie. So many lovely details.

I would like to mention that these are the full leg length with no pattern alterations. I chose not to cuff the ankles, but was surprised that they were not longer (not that I needed them longer), as I am only 5’2″ and I always have to shorten trousers. Bear that in mind if you have beautiful long legs unlike me! I imagine that I will usually wear these rolled up a little, kind of 7/8th length.

I already have some grey sweatshirt fabric lined up to make another pair, more like joggers, sweatpants, trakkies .. whatever you call them, with a cuffed ankle probably. I also would like to sew a wide leg version in linen for the Summer so watch out!

For the top I chose the Grainline Studio Hemlock Tee. I’ve linked it here on the Grainline website where it is available for $5.00, but it is also available as a free pattern if you are signed up the the Grainline newsletter 😉

This pattern is available is sizes 0-30.

This pattern is an old favourite and has been around for quite a while but was updated a couple of years ago to give the maker some more style and size choices. I made the mid length version with full length sleeves, but you can also mix and match between short or long sleeves and the lengths are also available in a cropped or tunic length if this is your preference.

I made a size 6.

The pattern is a drapey dropped shoulder tee/tunic and is the sort of top that I reach for all the time. It’s suitable for a beginner, and you can whip one up in no time at all. The instructions are clear and helpful and it’s just the style that I was looking for to complete my lounge set.

The dark grey acrylic scissors necklace is available in my shop x

I wonder if I should leave it how it is or grab my Happy Fabric vinyl and add a design to the front? We’ll see.

Hope you like this set, it’s a little different to what I normally sew, but I’m glad that the photos for this blog are now taken so that I can relax and actually wear it!

Take care, I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Follow me over on Instagram @sew_dainty

Posted on 22/01/202125/01/2021 by sewdainty — Leave a comment

A Cosy Sweatshirt Mashup.

Today’s blog is not a moment too soon. It’s Baltic outside at the moment and I need all the layers I can get – especially if they are soft and warm like this!

Let’s talk about the fabric first, as this was partially gifted to me by byGraziela. I fell in love with the Leaf sweatshirt fabric in the Berry colour way, so bold and pretty, and was very kindly sent this to use to make a garment of my choice. To contrast with this I purchased plain jersey for the hood lining and cuff fabric in smoky blue. I love how these colours work so nicely together. The main fabric has a large retro soft dusky pink leaf design on a stunning berry/raspberry coloured background. A random heart can be spotted on some of the leaves which is a really sweet touch. Also, the sweatshirt fabric is brushed on the reverse so is super soft and cosy.

Keep reading to find out about how you can enter a giveaway to win some fabric from byGraziela and a necklace from my shop which I’ll give you details about at the end of this post…

The pattern that I chose to make is a mash-up of two sweatshirt patterns. The Stella Hoodie from the Stretch! book by Tilly Walnes (from Tilly and the Buttons), and the Jarrah sweatshirt pattern (view A) from Megan Nielsen.

I basically used the Stella hoodie pattern from the top down to the underarm seam, and from that point down I used the Jarrah pattern. The reason for this was because the Stella has a long, feminine, more fitted shape to it’s body, and I was after a loose boxy shorter version. I used the Stella in a size 4, and the Jarrah in a size 8. For reference my measurements are 35-29-38 and I am 5’2″.

I have made the Stella Hoodie before, and as I have found with all of Tilly’s patterns, an absolute pleasure to sew. I have also sewn the Jarrah Sweatshirt, but not this version, so was looking forward to seeing them hacked together.

The quality of the fabric is superb, without doubt one of the best quality sweatshirt fabrics that I have ever used. As always when working with knit fabric, I used my walking foot to make sure that both layers of fabric were being fed through the machine without any stretching. I love how colourful the finished sweatshirt is. It’s a happy hoodie for sure!

The final touch is the flat cotton tape which is threaded through the buttonholes at either side of the neck. Don’t be like me and try to feed them through the machine after turning them under( I should know better), they are just too thick. Hand stitch or use another method of finishing.

Today I decided to accessorise with my silver acrylic button necklace. Cute.

It’s been lovely to collaborate with byGraziela on this post, and to celebrate byGraziela and myself are offering some goodies as part of a giveaway over on my Instagram account. You have the opportunity to win 1.5 metres of fabric from ByGraziela and an item of jewellery from my shop! The giveaway will run for three days from the date of this post, so don’t hang around and head on over to my Instagram to find out all the details of how you can enter! Good luck!

*EDIT* – This giveaway has now closed.

Take care, and I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Although this post is in collaboration with byGraziela, please know that as always, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Posted on 04/05/2020 by sewdainty — Leave a comment

A classic Linden Sweatshirt

I’m quite enjoying sewing through my stash at the moment, are you doing the same? If I’m honest, I just can’t afford new fabric at the moment, luckily I have a quite a few fabrics that will keep me going for a while.

One fabric that has been knocking around in my cupboard for a year or two is this wonderful lilac and brown wide striped knit. As with quite a few things that I have been sewing lately, this too was a great find from a fabric swap. I *think* I might have picked it up at the Sewing Weekender. Thank you to whoever donated it! The moment I saw it I always intended it to be a Linden.

The Linden Sweatshirt from Grainline Studio is a classic pattern that most of us will be familiar with. I have made a couple of versions in the past which I wear a great deal around the house, and as they are on their last legs I thought it was about time that I made another. Also I don’t think I have ever written a blog post on this great pattern, so it’s about time.

11005_Linden07_d8b3e7fd-6307-4107-91bf-ef74017579de_1296x — This image is from http://www.grainlinestudio.com

For those unfamiliar the pattern gives you the choice of two versions. View A is a classic sweatshirt with long sleeves and ribbing at the neckline, cuffs and hem. View B is slightly shorter in the body, it has short sleeves too and only requires ribbing at the neckband.

I made view A and didn’t use ribbing as I didn’t have any in my stash that was the right colour, so just went right ahead and used the main fabric as it had a nice amount of stretch in it. Due to the width of the stripes I was able to ‘fussy cut’ these pieces to make sure they were all solid brown.

Talking about stripes, although the long side/arm seams are easy to stripe match, the curved shape of the sleeve head means that stripes along the armhole seam won’t often match. On this seam I always try to match at least one of the most prominent stripes and let the rest do what they want! In the case of my sweatshirt, I chose to match up one of the brown stripes. As it has turned out, that brown stripe is matched up perfectly along the bottom edge of the stripe, leaving a ‘step’ in the matching along the top edge. On reflection I perhaps should have matched up the top edge of the stripe for it to look a little better, but not to worry, I’m not going to lose sleep over it! What is your opinion on pattern matching guys? ‘Team perfection’ or ‘Team whatever’?

On a plus note, the back arm seams match wonderfully!! Ha! Maybe I should wear it backwards!

The neckline is a soft scoop, and is a little wider than a lot of my rtw sweatshirts. I like the fit, but I have heard others mention that the neck opening is too wide for their liking.

I left the length of the sleeves as they were – which is something that I rarely do, as my arms aren’t very long. I like this length of sleeve on a cosy sweatshirt, and I also like the sleeve width – not too tight, not too loose.

Lilac is still such a hot colour, and whilst it isn’t a shade that everybody can wear, I feel that the brown stripes are so complimentary. How could I not accessorize this top with my original lilac scissors necklace, available in my shop.

So whilst it’s great to talk about all the new and exciting patterns out there, it’s also good to re-visit the oldies but goldies like this. Classic wardrobe staples that you can go back to time and time again are great aren’t they?

Take care, I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Posted on 14/02/2020 by sewdainty — 5 Comments

The Jarrah Sweater from Megan Nielsen Patterns.

The Jarrah is a great basic sweatshirt pattern with a little bit extra. It is a loose fitting, drop shoulder sweater featuring a crew or funnel neck, two sleeve options and four different hemlines.

As soon as this pattern was released last year, I was desperate to make view C, which has the tie feature at the waist.

The supplies for this sweater were bought a few months ago during a visit to The Sewing Cafe. I spotted the pattern on the shelf and grabbed it straight away, along with this gorgeous mustard modal jersey and cute blue striped ribbing. I absolutely love this jersey, the quality is exceptional and it was a dream to sew with.

thumbnail_0267CCDC-9E04-4D11-85D5-1B7F5BE87CA5 — Dark grey acrylic scissors necklace available from my shop x

Although this is an intentionally loose fitting sweater, I noticed that the sizing chart on the back of the pattern showed a large amount of ease (approx 8″ size difference on the actual bust measurement to that of the finished garment), although this felt like quite a lot, I made the size according to my bust measurement (size 10), and although roomy, it’s still fine I think.

I did make some adjustments, as I could see that I needed to make some changes to the pattern pieces before cutting out. I almost always need to shorten sleeves, and found that I wanted to with this pattern too. I shortened the sleeve length by 2″. There were no ‘lengthen/shorten’ markings on the sleeve pattern piece that I was using (for view A and C), so I just drew my own!

I knew that the cuffs weren’t going to be tight enough for me either ( I have small wrists), so I also adjusted them by 1″ and tapered the sleeve pattern piece accordingly.

I’m so glad that I used this blue striped ribbing for the neck band and cuffs. I love how this colour works with the mustard and also with my jeans, which if I’m honest is probably what I will always wear this top with!

The ties were a little fiddly to sew, I must admit, and I really took my time on this part to make sure I made it as neatly as I could. The fabric pressed really nicely and this helped a lot – as did the use of lots of pins!

There’s a really handy blog post on the Megan Nielsen site which give you lots of tips when sewing the tie hem on view C. There are a couple of different ways of sewing the tie ends, and I opted to follow their instructions to make the tie with the mitered/mitred (how do you spell that)?! corners.

I should say that these pictures show the sweater a little creased. We took these (outside) photos after a 1 hour car ride, and I think that sitting with the seatbelt over me for that amount of time and then wearing a cross body bag have meant that it’s not quite as smooth as it looked when I finished sewing it and was admiring it on my dressform. Hope you can see past the creases!

thumbnail_500548BA-D16E-404A-979B-8447725A8E6B — Love the dropped shoulders

So all in all a great top. I have seen lots of lovely versions over on Instagram. Search #MNjarrah for inspiration. I’m planning to make the regular simple sweatshirt (view A) next as I have heard that this turns out really well.

Do you have a favourite ‘go-to’ sweatshirt pattern?

Take care, I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Posted on 30/10/201930/10/2019 by sewdainty — 3 Comments

How to customise a top for Halloween using heat transfer vinyl

I’m very new to this whole iron-on heat transfer vinyl thing, but can totally see what all the fuss is about now that I have given it a go.

A couple of weeks ago I attended The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London. I was actually quite restrained in terms of what I bought that day I think, but something that I did treat myself to was a special show pack kit of vinyls from Happy Fabric

The kit contains 6 sheets of different vinyls (including one sheet of pre-cut shapes), and I thought that this would be a great way to test out a new craft.

Before I started this project I had a little ‘try out’ of one of the pre-cut designs on my work apron which you can see here. As this turned out so well, I was buzzing to try something else and when Happy Fabric reached 5K followers on Instagram and launched a little Halloween/Autumn giveaway to celebrate, this seemed like the perfect opportunity (excuse -ha!) to get creative.

Whilst there is no getting away from the fact that wonderful cutting machines (such as a Cricut) will certainly make using the vinyls a great deal quicker and much more accurate, there’s no reason why you can’t go right ahead without it.

For my sweatshirt project I needed

A plain sweatshirt
Happy Fabric vinyls
Free Halloween style font, downloaded and printed out in different sizes
craft scissors
bat shaped paper punch
craft knife and cutting mat
iron and baking parchment

Firstly I searched for free Halloween themed fonts. When I found a style I liked, I downloaded it and printed out the wording that I wanted in a couple of different sizes.

After cutting out the letters, I placed them in different places on the sweatshirt to see where I liked them, and what size I wanted. I also cut out some paper bat shapes with the paper punch to see what the additional bat shapes would look like with the lettering sizes too.

When I had decided which size lettering to go with, I cut the letters out. For this I used regular paper scissors around the edge and used a nice sharp craft knife and cutting mat to cut out the fiddly bits inside the letters. I was then left with a ‘stencil’ for each letter that I needed.

Next I flipped the letter stencils over and traced them on the underside (the surface that will adhere to the fabric) of the vinyl. I used the HappyFlock yellow vinyl for this, as I was interested to see how this flock texture would look.

Carefully cutting out the shapes didn’t take too long actually, and using the craft knife and cutting mat for the fiddly inside bits certainly helped too. When cutting out, make sure that you cut inside the pen lines.

Once cut out, flip the lettering over the right way around again and you are almost ready to get started. First things first though, you need to iron your sweatshirt. Pop the letters on and have a bit of a play around with their placement to make sure they’re exactly where you want them.

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Once you are sure you have them where you want them, carefully place some baking parchment/greaseproof paper over the top and place the iron (with the heat setting on two dots) over the top for about 15 seconds. Keep the iron still as moving it around might disturb your letters.

Remove the baking parchment and wait for your design to go cold. Once cold you can peel away the shiny carrier sheet. So satisfying..

I tried to get a close-up of the flock finish, but it was quite subtle and not sure if you can see this very well, but it’s pretty cute!

I was bursting to try the next part, which was cutting out bat shapes using a regular paper punch, using the most FABULOUS HappyFashion vinyl in ‘multi’. It’s a sheet of rainbow striped holographic vinyl and is completely glorious. After cutting out a row of these, which gives you lots of different colours, they are applied in the same way to wherever you want them, and once again covered with the baking parchment and this time under the iron for about 10 seconds. ‘Peel to reveal’ again when cold.

Et voila! How easy was that!

Turns out that I have more holographic bats than I needed so in order not to waste them (any excuse), I made a little bow tie collar attachment for the cat! I quickly cut out a small rectange of scrap felt from my stash and applied the bats to it in exactly the same way as above. I pinched it in the middle and wrapped a thin strip of felt around and stitched in place. A little bit of velcro attached to the back and there you have it – a little Happy Fabric collar attachment. Pretty cute. Don’t worry I didn’t leave it on for very long.

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Take care, and I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Posted on 29/04/2019 by sewdainty — Leave a comment

A Seamwork Astoria and a self-drafted midi skirt

I’m as guilty as the next person for grabbing a great pattern and then not getting around to sewing it for AGES! The same applies to fabric I guess, and whilst I don’t have a huge fabric stash, some of it has been there for a while!

The Seamwork Astoria Top has been in my PDF drawer for what must be a couple of years now, and at last I can finally see what all the love is about.

It’s a simple cropped round necked top, and is just lovely. Fabric suggestions for this top are medium weight knits and I went for this blush ponte that I bought from Sewisfaction last time I was down in Wokingham. The textured finish on the fabric gives it a scuba vibe, and the dusky blush colour is super pretty (and also matches my favourite shade of lipstick at the moment which, of course, makes me very happy).

For those remotely interested (because I always like to know these things), my fave lipstick combo is NYX soft matte lip cream in 14 (Zurich) and Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Pillow Talk dabbed on top. You’re welcome.

I cut a straight size medium and this was just right for me. When I sewed in the neckband, it turned out a little too long and saggy. So out came the unpicker and I shortened it by 2″. If I’m being picky, it could probably have done with a little more shaved off- but I was too lazy to unpick the neckband again!

All the usual tools etc were used – a walking foot, a ball point machine needle and ball twin needle for finishing the neckband and sleeves. I also used the twin needle on the waistband – I get carried away when the twin needle comes out! The sleeves are a little long. Not sure why I cut this length when I always prefer 3/4 sleeves, but hey ho! it’s alright isn’t it?

I totally love it. As someone who wears a lot of skirts and dresses, I know it will fit well in my wardrobe especially at this time of the year when it can still be a little chilly. I am making more of an effort to sew using plain/solid colours and this pattern is perfect for this as it will pair nicely with my crazy printed skirts and dresses. More of these will definitely be sewn!

Not gonna lie – I do love a good Instagram challenge, and three gorgeous sewists over on Instagram have started a fun challenge each month this year with the general tag of #sewingpatternsandprints . This months friendly theme is animals and can be searched by looking for the tag #sewinganimalapril .Do head on over and check out the lovely three organisers who are Tamlyn, Samantha, and Kealy, for more information!

I chose to make a self-drafted midi skirt using this gorgeous animal print stretch cotton sateen that I bought from the lovely Sarah at Like Sew Amazing when I was down in Bristol a few months ago for her shop launch.

It’s a straightforward sew – just gathered rectangles really! I didn’t want the gather to be too full as the fabric already has some structure, so instead of going for double the width, I probably went for about 1.5 times the width in terms of how much gather I wanted. I added a 2″ waistband which I measured nice and snugly – (I’ve been caught with stretch fabrics on the waistband feeling too loose before), and this one is sooo comfortable.

It simply has to have pockets doesn’t it. No arguments there. My trusty pocket piece that I always have close to hand in case I need to add it was called upon, and add an 8 or 9″ invisible zip from my stash and presto! One quick and easy skirt!

I went for a midi length, which is not my usual length, as I wasn’t sure if I could carry it off at only 5’2″. But I really like it and certainly intend to make more cute gathered skirts this length in the future!

So all in all, two quick and easy makes which I can mix and match with existing items in my wardrobe. Win Win!

Thanks for stopping by, take care and I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Posted on 04/03/2019 by sewdainty — 2 Comments

Another Cocowawa Chestnut Sweater – with interchangeable ribbons!

O.k, I know that you have seen this sweatshirt before LOADS of times, but this one’s different ..

This month on my Minerva Crafts Blogger Network make I wanted to make a comfy sweatshirt and this wonderful claret ponte roma caught my eye. Available in a whopping 27 colours it was a pretty difficult choice to select which one I wanted to use.

The next difficult choice (it’s a hard life, I know), was which ribbon to pair it up with. Luckily for me, the lovely Vicki from Minerva kindly sent me two ribbon choices for me to make my mind up with at home with the fabric in front of me. After a great deal of procrastination, I finally realised that I simply couldn’t choose between the two and worked out a way that I could adapt the pattern so that I can add whatever ribbon I feel like!

It was simple to add these gold coloured eyelets to the opening of the neck slit, and doing this gives me a neat way of changing my ribbon choice as the mood takes me!

Immediately after making this I proudly showed my husband this genius pattern hack, to which he promptly informed me that I had hammered them in ‘the wrong way up’. Ho hum! Let’s not loose too much sleep over that one shall we, I still love it! Don’t worry if you don’t have eyelets, you could just as easily sew buttonhole openings here instead.

My full post, showing this in more detail is over on the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network this month, I’ll see you over there..

Huge thanks as always to Minerva Crafts for sending me the supplies in exchange for an honest review on their Blogger Nework page.

Take care, and I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Posted on 05/10/2018 by sewdainty — 6 Comments

The Stella Hoodie from Tilly and the Buttons.

O.K, Summer might be over now, but here’s a way to eek out those tropical vibes for the cooler months courtesy of the Tilly and the Buttons Stella Hoodie and this super cosy Jungle Flowers sweatshirt fabric which was very kindly sent to me to review from the online knit fabrics boutique Pin and Sew.

This is the third project that I have made from Tilly’s book Stretch! and after seeing so many other fantastic versions online, the Stella was always going to be high up on my list of sewing projects when the weather got cooler. It’s an easy-fitting sweatshirt with a 3 piece lined hood with drawstring.

To add a pop of colour to the sweatshirt, I decided to use this pretty pink viscose jersey which picks up some of the pink colours in the tropical flowers perfectly. I also continued that theme with the drawstring cord too.

The hoodie is really easy to sew, and I made it up in a day. As always with Tilly and the Button patterns, clear written instructions and helpful tips are accompanied by great step by step photographs. You really can’t go wrong.

Instead of using buttonholes for the drawstring cord, I decided to pop in some eyelets from my stash. They are quick and easy to apply and I love how they look. I positioned them right in the centre of the buttonhole marking (shown below), and I hope you can also see the soft fleece on the reverse side of the fabric too.

I swapped between pink and black thread throughout this make, and when I was stitching the hood lining to the hood to create the channel for the drawstring to run through, I used pink thread in my top spool, and black in the bobbin so that the stitching on both sides would match.

Another addition that I made was to use some toggles from my stash to finish the ends of my drawstring tape. I ordered this tape online, and whilst the colour is a perfect match for the pink hood lining, the weight of the tape was much lighter than I was expecting. These cord ends therefore, give the tape some weight and they look pretty great too!

The only alteration that I would make another time would be to shorten the sleeve length. I can’t believe that I just went right ahead and kept these the same as the pattern, as sleeves are always too long for me. Not to worry, I plan to wear this as a layering piece so I might be glad of the extra length after all …

Finally I added a kangaroo pocket. Because this is an addition to the pattern, it is discussed in a separate section of the book, and I forgot to add it at the correct stage of construction – which is before the side seams have been sewn. Adding it at the end like I did is a little awkward, but not impossible, and next time I make a Stella I will definitely make life easier for myself and sew it in at the correct time!

Thank you again to Aga for this great sweatshirting fabric. I am sure to be nice and cosy this Autumn/Winter with this in my wardrobe. Have you made a Stella yet? I plan to make the Stella joggers soon too for head-to-toe Tilly comfort!

Take care, and I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Posted on 12/02/2018 by sewdainty — 7 Comments

Another Cocowawa Chestnut Sweater, with added bows!

It’s no secret that I absolutely love this sewing pattern. Almost as soon as Cocowawa Crafts released this pattern last Autumn I had snapped it up, downloaded the PDF and whipped up a couple of versions which you can take a look at here.

During the #sewbrum sewing meet up last October, I decided that along with some fabric purchases from the rag market, I wanted to save some of my precious fabric spending money on a special purchase of some fabric from Guthrie and Ghani, as this was where we would be ending up the day. My special purchase was this Rose Pink Marl Fleeceback Jersey. It’s just beautiful. Immediately I knew it would end up as another Chestnut Sweater.

I love bows and ribbons, and decided that with this version I would add bows at each cuff. Why not? I already had some grey ribbon in my stash which would be perfect for the bow at the back of the neck and just needed to purchase some narrower ribbon for the cuff bows. Oh by the way, I have chosen to make view A again, which has the ribbon at the centre back neck.

So my plan was to insert the cuff ribbons through two openings in the cuff piece. The cuff piece is basically a rectangle of fabric which is folded in half lengthwise and attached to the sleeve. Before I attached it to the sleeve I needed to work out where I wanted the openings (as I wanted them to only be on the outer layer of the cuff). I folded the cuff, pinned it to the sleeve and carefully tried it on to work out where I wanted the centre of the bow to sit. I marked this point on each sleeve.

After unpinning the cuff pieces again, I measured each one to make sure the point where I wanted the centre of the ribbon to sit was evenly matched on each cuff and adjusted them very slightly so that they matched perfectly. I then worked out how far apart I wanted the openings to be – in my case 4.5cm, and also marked these positions on each cuff.

So there are a couple of different ways that you can make the openings for the ribbon. I chose to use eyelets. These come as a kit with the tool itself included. You can select different metal colours and I chose a gold finish. There are also different sizes and I used the 5.5mm size.

The instructions on the back of the packet are a little vague, so I resorted to good old YouTube for some visual help with how they work, and found a good video which helped me work out how to fix them. You’ll need a hammer, and my advice would be to hit it REALLY hard, this way you get a good strong finish and it won’t come apart at a later date. This is something that really needs at least a couple of practice attempts on a scrap of fabric. It’s good fun though!

If you don’t have eyelets, you could always sew little button holes to make the openings. Or perhaps take the ribbons, tie them in a bow and knot them tightly and just sew the knotted bow on the cuff where you want it.

I was able to then attach the cuffs to the sleeves, and thread the ribbons through after they were attached using a large blunt darning needle. They are super cute and I am really pleased with how they have turned out.

I warn you now, this is not the last Chestnut Sweater. You will be seeing more – I just love them!

Take care, and I’ll be back soon,

Kathy x

Posted on 01/01/2018 by sewdainty — 2 Comments

My latest Minerva Crafts Blogger Network make – a cosy Burda 7148 sweatshirt dress.

Hi everyone and Happy New Year to you all!

I just wanted to let you know that my latest post as part of the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network is now up on their website. It’s the Burda 7148 sweatshirt dress and is perfect for this cold start to 2018. I used a gorgeous loop-back sweatshirt fabric for this one and it was perfect for this pattern.

I needed to make several adjustments to make this dress work for me, but it all turned out great in the end. I will leave a link here to the full review over on the Minerva Blogger Network page, where I talk through all the alterations that I made and there are lots more photos too.

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you over at Minerva!

Take care, and I’l be back soon,

Kathy x